Rather than attempting a detailed realistic evocation of a resort hotel such as those in Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad or Visconti's Death in Venice, Duras' setting is reduced to bare essentials [in Destroy, She Said]: a building with plain white interiors, a broad lawn surrounded by trees and a tennis court, no bell-boys, desk clerk or elaborate interiors or exteriors…. The building is obviously a private chateau rather than a hotel and the women wear black dresses despite the references to summer heat. The result is a disconcerting feeling of subtle disparity.

The concern for abstraction is also reflected in the emphasis on simplicity, order and balance in the composition of the shots. Figures are carefully posed within the frame, often at oblique angles to each other and to the camera, suggesting their inability to communicate. (p. 267)

The few references to specific times, either days or hours...